Flying in public parks

[t-rex pedro]

This is an easy one and doesn't really need the 'safety police' piping up. If the area/park allows model flying then get on with it providing there is nobody around and you are not creating a hazard or being a PITA. Always make sure you are covered by the BMFA and above all USE YOUR COMMON SENSE!!!!!

[Rob O]

I think there is a misconception here that a lot of members are under a very dangerous illusion that if they have BMFA insurance then you will be automatically covered if you wipe someone out with your Beam , T, Rex or whatever Heli you happen to be flying . Come on Guys get real a 450 spinning a couple of 325mm carbons at upwards of 2000 R P M will cause you serious damage . Surely we've seen the U.Tube films that have been posted on here . As for By Laws allowing you to fly in certain Parks etc have you actually got this in writing , because i have a very nasty feeling that when someone is seriously injured , or at worst Killed by one of us , people that so say gave permission for you to fly will be nowhere to be seen . This Post may well have been flogged to death but it just does'nt seem to be getting through . This is my opinion for what its worth . Rob .

[gazza]

I live virtually next door to a huge park which also comprises a football pitch & a cricket strip.
The public tend to walk around the park perimeter and come nowhere near the football pitch which is right in the corner and separated by a grass bank and a line of trees. I would say the public never come within 100 metres of this area and this is where I fly.

I'm insured (which means nothing anyway if being unsafe) But I use common sense regarding the safety of myself and others and the times of day I fly there with regard to doing so only when the kids are at school etc. I consider myself competent, sensible and safe enough to carry on doing this.
I never get anyone or anything bothering me and any kids on the park who aren't at school but should be are usually too ****ed to notice me anyway

I consider the public far more at risk from the idiots who race up and down the main road at the park entrance.

[Tom Burgess]

I think there is a misconception here that a lot of members are under a very dangerous illusion that if they have BMFA insurance then you will be automatically covered if you wipe someone out with your Beam

I dont think anyone is saying that. What they are saying is that insurance is a prerequisite just as permission and being safe is.

[Mart61]

I seem to recall that most of Mr Davies videos are of him and Trvo flying in a park. I'd not class him or Trvo as muppets

I'm sure these two gents know the law and act accordingly. If they dont.... well, you know what I'm saying.

Martin, the land on which your club flys is, for all intents and purposes, a public park. I've flown there, and had people walking dogs or riding horses past in the background...

Fair comment. The club do post big huge signs saying what we are doing could mince them. Anyway, at this point, it is a mute point as the club flying is closed until further notice.

This is an easy one and doesn't really need the 'safety police' piping up. If the area/park allows model flying then get on with it providing there is nobody around and you are not creating a hazard or being a PITA. Always make sure you are covered by the BMFA and above all USE YOUR COMMON SENSE!!!!!

I think your post sums it up nicely. Oh, and I am a safety policeman by the way. It's in my job description...

I think the point I was trying to make is that we should learn from the "mistakes" of others and not wait until we make them ourselves...

[Brian Gifford]

I think most people saw my recent post about what I thought was safe, and turned out it wasn't - nuff said?

[Janek]

Don't allow yourselves to be lulled into a false sense of security by thinking "I'm competent". . . . . I've seen too many people (myself included), get massively out of shape for all sorts of reasons, dumb thumbs, mechanical failure, out of fuel, lost orientation, you name it. Some of these were "saved", many others resulted in a crash. . . . . . . and those crashes could have ended up anywhere.

Anyone remember JasonK blade stop auto at the 3D Masters a couple of years back ?, a good pilot, who fooked up, the heli ended up in the allotments, luckily no-one was there (organisers paid off the allotment users, to vacate them for the weekend. . . . . but did they all, for all the weekend ?)

Personally I would never fly in an area open to the general public, even with a small electric 3D model (maybe with a fixed pitch, or contra rotating, because the headspeeds are low enough to make injury extremely unlikely).

[Made2Fade]

What can i say 'im a muppet' too... lol ... a one that has lots of common sense though
Seriously i cant see the problem as long as the user brings common sense with him. Unlike the little loosers i see flying across my local field on their MX bikes (something i have also done as a hobby but with equal common sense). I actually had a few people come up to me on my local field and say 'why cant the kids be flying models here instead of ripping MX bikes up and down the fields?'. Im lucky as the people here dont seem to have a problem if i want to fly on the field. The houses are a good 800 - 1000m behind me. I dont fly when there are people doing activities on the field and i generally use my common sense. Been here about 2 year and never ever had any grief off anyone about it. It wouldnt be the only place i would have flown but due to Washington heli club field being dug up (as per Stuarts post) then there is no other helicopter club near to me. The local fixed wing club is about 1 mile from my house but i left them a long while back because they didnt want to know me when the helicopter came out. Some people just cant justify travelling silly miles to fly unfortunately (and i dont blame them). As long as people act with common sense and maturely then IMO its no diffrent to alot of other activities that happen on local fields. They can be just as dangerous if not more. When i talk about a local field i dont mean a 400m square area in the middle of a housing estate by the way. Thats a diffrent thing altogether and should be never done.

[gazza]

What can i say 'im a muppet' too... lol ... a one that has lots of common sense though
Seriously i cant see the problem as long as the user brings common sense with him. Unlike the little loosers i see flying across my local field on their MX bikes (something i have also done as a hobby but with equal common sense). I actually had a few people come up to me on my local field and say 'why cant the kids be flying models here instead of ripping MX bikes up and down the fields?'. Im lucky as the people here dont seem to have a problem if i want to fly on the field. The houses are a good 1000m behind me. I dont fly when there are people doing activities on the field and i generally use my common sense. Been here about 2 year and never ever had any grief off anyone about it. It wouldnt be the only place i would have flown but due to Washington heli club field being dug up (as per Stuarts post) then there is no other helicopter club near to me. The local fixed wing club is about 1 mile from my house but i left them a long while back because they didnt want to know me when the helicopter came out. Some people just cant justify travelling silly miles to fly unfortunately (and i dont blame them). As long as people act with common sense and maturely then IMO its no diffrent to alot of other activities that happen on local fields. They can be just as dangerous if not more. When i talk about a local field i dont mean a 400m square area in the middle of a housing estate by the way. Thats a diffrent thing altogether and should be never done.

Well put lee.
My local club is ten miles away and having only just rejoined I haven't been given a key yet so I can't fly there during the day when I'm in a week of night shifts.
I also fly at tims place but as that is a 120 mile round trip just nipping there for a quick couple of packs with the 500 is a ludicrously impractical idea.
I'm under no illusions that things can and do go wrong but that can happen in many situations with many activities.
Most of us drive and every day we run the risk of having a collision and wiping whole families out as a result.
It's a horrendous thought but it's true.
All we can do is drive in a safe manner, observe our surroundings and minimize the risk to ourselves and others.

I didn't notice anyone tearing Bob J to pieces for hovering his 500 over the big brother house above say 10 housemates. Not to mention everyone else in close proximity ie camera crew, caterers, presenters? Need I go on?
But I suppose that was okay as it was in the name of entertainment?
As excellent and competent as Bob is on the sticks things could still have gone horribly wrong.
For some of us the only option if we want to fly us to do so on public land.
But speaking for myself I make damn sure I fly in a big open space well away from others and I carry out a vigourous risk assessment beforehand and I'm always aware of what is happening around me.

[gazza]

True 2 people i'd not class as muppets but I bet one was watching out for the public and they had permission to be there

Come on lets not be having double standards here!
It is still a public place and not a flying club.

[Made2Fade]

Have to disagree here, some of the new electric heli's are far more powerfull than there nitro equivalent with the added danger that they are much quieter and no visual clue as to there location (ie, no smoke cloud)

Not that it matters if your deaf mind... which would actually go in favour of 'you shouldnt fly in public parks' in this debate.
My point here is we could go on all day long about the various variables involved but its the same with anything.
I mean when i drive on the road there are loads of idiots id rather see not on the same roads. But someone decided to give them a licence either way. In fact theres probably people driving illegally (without a licence) that have more common sense on the road than some do. Im sure your following me here...

[Rob O]

Lee i dont think any one is having a go at you mate . IMO what you are doing is sensible enough , a 1000, m is a long way , its people in public parks that worry me . I've been flying fixed wing for 30 years & Helis for 3 Years and have allways been a member of a club , never had a problem finding one around my area , maybe im just lucky . I dont know if we want to compare ourselves to kids on motocross bikes bikes though , two wrongs dont make a right , cheers Rob .

[Made2Fade]

Sorry mate you must be confused, i didnt think anyone was having a go and i said quite the opposite about the kids on bikes. Just putting my point across. Where i fly is still a public field regardless of size or how far it is away from the houses. Im not comparing us to kids on bikes either (that just couldnt be done lol). What i am saying is that theres worse things happening in these places (using examples).

[Mart61]

It was not my intention to have a pop at anyone in this thread, merely to discuss the issues associated with flying in public spaces.

Gazza - I don't know which park you fly in in Sheffield (I assume that's where you fly?), but if it's not Blacka Moor, Richmond Sports Park, Graves Park, Tinsley Park Playing Fields and Concord Park than I believe the byelaws prohibit you from flying:

http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/EasySite...556&pgid=75209

[Made2Fade]

Why does everyone think people are having a pop at others here? (am i missing somthing?) This is a discussion as is everything on here... its a forum thats what we do lol I never take anything personal that we talk about on here. Imagine how angry we all constantly would be if we did haha? Im putting my point across and like to hear others simple as that. And if any of my wording reads aggressive (or like im trying to back myself or others up) then its never intended lol